In semiconductor manufacturing technology, circuit designs, structure and layouts (generically referred to as “patterns”) are typically designed and stored in one or more data files. The data files are then provided to a “writer.” A writer is a device used to convert the data file to an image on a substrate, such as a mask (reticle) or a semiconductor wafer.
It is well known that in semiconductor manufacturing technology, patterns are becoming increasingly complex. This can be a result of various items, including a reduced critical-dimension (CD) for the images, larger image size, and more intricate patterns. As a result, the size of the corresponding data file(s) also increases. This leads to a longer data preparation cycle. For example, as the CD size decreases from 80 nm to 65 nm, the typical size of a corresponding data file increases from about 330 GB to about 1000 GB. In addition, the cycle time of data preparation for the data files increases from about 5 days to about 10 days. This provides many different drawbacks, including increased delay, possibility for error, and computational requirements.
Therefore, a need exists for a method that reduces data preparation requirements. In this way, preparation of mask or wafer data files may be more efficient and less investment is needed.